By Worried of Whitton
April 25 2007

NEC Harlequins play Sale Sharks at The Stoop on April 28th and in common with all the matches this weekend, kick off is at 15.05 pm courtesy of Sky tv. Saturday marks the conclusion of the 2006-07 Guinness Premiership season as all the final round of matches are played.

Saturday will also show which team will be GP Champions, (I still don’t believe in the play offs) and who will be relegated. During the research for this preview I was surprised by just how many coincidences there at the end of this season which parallel the end of season two years ago, when the top and bottom positions were also decided on the final day. 

Any one of the teams currently placed 1 to 4 can finish top, Wasps can’t because even if they thrash Leicester and finish with 66 points they have not won as many games as Gloucester. At the bottom, Worcester or Northampton will be relegated into National Division One. So Saturday is a real make or break day. For Harlequins, in their mid table position, currently at 7^th, it has been suggested that there is nothing to play for. That is wrong. A win against Sale will secure 7^th place in their first season back in the Premiership, which given the start to our campaign would be a solid and creditable result, and a string base to build from next season. The results of the matches between Quins v Sale and Newcastle v Bath will decide who finishes in the positions between 7^th and 10^th,. London Irish have already exiled themselves into splendid isolation in sixth position, but 12 wins but only 4 bonus points suggests an under achievement this year. Seventh position could still provide a Heineken Cup place assuming the current issues are resolved, as both Leicester and Wasps meet in the final, the winner of which will qualify for next season. Both teams will also have qualified by the nature of their finish this season, and both teams also meet on Saturday afternoon as they did in April 2005.

This Saturday should banish all the remaining demons, and finally exorcise all the remaining ghosts of that  afternoon of Saturday April 30^th 2005. There is a fair amount of confidence of a win amongst Quins supporters, not withstanding the fact that we won t be relegated.  Interestingly the last two matches between Quins and Sale at The Stoop have resulted in 45 points being scored. In April 2005 Quins lost 22-23 and went down, on the previous occasion in February 2003, Quins were thrashed, as the Shark’s jaws tore them apart  0-45, and the records go on to show that Quins have not beaten Sale, at The Stoop, since 2001!

The two teams have already met twice this season with Sale winning both matches. At The Stoop in October in the Anglo Welsh Cup, 27 -28 for which Alan Quin wrote in his match report “The disappointment at the loss, however, is tempered by what was far and away the best performance by Quins this season” . The second defeat was away at Edgeley Park, Stockport in November in the Premiership 17-12 . In complete contrast in his match report, Harley Quin wrote “ There are days when a losing bonus point at the home of the current league champions would be considered a decent result. This was not one of those days. Against a home side clearly lacking in confidence and self belief Quins were awful in the first half, before clawing their way back into the game in the final stages and were left with a long drive home to contemplate what might have been”.  So which Quins side is likely to play this weekend? We all hope for the former. Two weeks ago, “the curse of Vicarage Road” continued as Quins put in a very poor away performance. Despite running Saracens close in the first half, they were left behind in the second as Saracens piled on the points. A late consolation try from Mike Brown flattered the Quins performance.

With a forecast of a warm and sunny late spring day there is bound to be a party atmosphere at The Stoop, albeit tinged with sadness. Saturday marks the retirement of a great Harlequin as Andre Vos hands up his professional boots for the last time. Andre has given Quins five seasons with his immense presence and has seen us through both the good and not the so good times at The Stoop. He will be sorely missed, as will another world class departee, Andrew Mehrtens, who will, on his 34^th birthday, also be gracing our turf for the last time. Two weeks ago, another world class player, and World Cup winner Jason Robinson retired from club rugby. There was to be a fairy tale ending to his club career in the Sale v Bath match. The home side won 25 - 23 in fine style with Robinson scoring a try in the last play of the game, with less than 10 seconds to play. He was given the task of taking the conversion, which he missed something that Mehrtens would not have done. His try fittingly secured Sale’s Premiership status for another year. So we all have the expectation on Saturday for a similar fairytale finale for our very own Saint Andre, although I’ve no doubt that his namesake at Sale will want to make a game of it!

Sale Sharks have had a wretched season which has seen a huge number of injuries and with only eight wins, many at the start of the season has seen  them drop down the Premiership to there lowly ninth position. A few weeks ago it looked as if Quins may have been in a position to turn the tables on them this weekend and send them down to ND1, but that scenario has passed and Sale are safe, and neither side have to worry about the drop. In my match preview for this match two years ago I optimistically wrote “ ….the bottom five teams slug it out to decide who is relegated. Just two points separate Quins in 12^th position on 37 points and London Irish in 8^th on 39 points.  Irish are away at Newcastle, Leeds are away at Bath while what could well be the real relegation decider Northampton are away to Worcester at Sixways.” Unfortunately for them, this year it will be one or the other, but just a few weeks ago it was just as tight as 2005.

Saturday will therefore be a bittersweet day for many, but as supporters we have the opportunity to say thank you and good bye and giving ALL the departing Harlequins the send off they deserve and that will also include our title sponsor NEC. So let's raise the roof, and cheer the team on to another home victory and afterwards party hard!

 Have a great summer, see you in September.

 

You’ll not see nothing like the Mighty Quins!

 

The other fixtures are: